The hypothetical state of Hwanguk (환국, 桓國) is the first mythical state of Korea described in Hwandan Gogi. Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. Hwandan Gogi (환단고기 桓檀古記 also called Handan Gogi, is a compilation of texts on ancient Korean history According to Hwandan Gogi, Hwanguk existed long before Gojoseon. Gojoseon was an ancient Korean kingdom considered the first proper nation of the Korean people. However, mainstream Korean historians reject the existence of Hwanguk altogether, for the lack of credible evidences.
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Claim of Hwanguk's Appearance in Samguk Yusa
In some editions of Samguk Yusa, one of the oldest surviving Korean history books, the name Hwanin (桓因), the mythical grandfather of Gojoseon's founder Dangun, appears as if it is instead written Hwanguk (桓囯), which would mean "The Hwan nation. Samguk Yusa, or Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, is a collection of legends folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea ( Goguryeo Hwanin, (also pronounced "Han-in" 한인 or Divine Regent is a figure in Korean mythology. Dangun Wanggeom was the legendary founder of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom around present-day Liaoning, Manchuria, and the Korean " Some people argue that this is an evidence that the original manuscript of Samguk Yusa wrote Hwanguk instead of Hwanin.
However, the theory is problematic because in all other places in the book where the "guk (nation)" character appears, it consistently uses the traditional Chinese character "國", not the simplified form "囯". Moreover, Samguk Yusa itself contains an annotation that says "Hwanin means Jeseok (제석, 帝釋)", that is, a god. This is rather difficult to explain if we are to assume that Hwanguk was the intended word. Modern historians regard this as a mere mistake in transcription. [1]
Hwanguk in Hwandan-gogi
According to the Hwandan-gogi, it was composed of twelve states, Biri-guk(비리국, 卑離國), Yangun-guk(양운국, 養雲國), Gumakhan-guk(구막한국, 寇莫汗國), Gudacheon-guk(구다천국, 句茶川國), Ilun-guk(일운국, 一群國), Uru-guk(우루국, 虞婁國) or Pilla-guk(필라국, 畢那國), Gaekhyeon-han-guk(객현한국, 客賢汗國), Gumoaek-guk(구모액국, 句牟額國), Maeguyeo-guk(매구여국, 賣句餘國) or Jikguda-guk(직구다국, 稷臼多國), Sanaba-guk(사납아국, 斯納阿國), Seonbi-guk(선비국, 鮮裨國) or Siwi-guk(시위국, 豕韋國) or Tonggosa-guk(통고사국, 通古斯國), and Sumilyi-guk(수밀이국, 須密爾國).
There were seven emperors for 3301 years. Because of their long reigns (average would be 471. 6 years/emperor), this nation is not officially considered to be historical. Because the nation was governed by Hwanin, it might be called Hwanguk or the Hwanin’s nation (guk is a Sino-Korean word that means "state" or "nation"). Sino-Korean or hanja-eo refers to the set of words in the Korean language vocabulary that originated from or were influenced by the Chinese language. It was located at the area of the mountain Pana-ryoo, thus it was also called the Pana-ryoo’s nation. Hwanguk was located in the east of the sea of heaven. Hwanguk was an allied nation that consisted of twelve confederacies. It is believed that the size of the Hwanguk was 8,000 km from east to west, and 20,000 from north to south. The people of Hwanguk believed that they were the offspring of Heaven. Thus, they respected brightness, their god was the sun, their ancestor was Heaven, and they worshiped to heaven everyday because all of the people in Hwanguk do not doubt about it at all.
After its destruction, it was succeeded by Baedalguk.
List of Hwanin
- Ahpakyun (Hangul : 안파견 Hanja: 安巴堅) 7197 B. Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated C. E. - ?)
- Hyukseo (Hangul : 혁서 Hanja: 赫胥)
- Gosiri (Hangul : 고시리 Hanja: 古是利)
- Joowooyang (Hangul : 주우양 Hanja: 朱于襄)
- Seokjeim (Hangul : 석제임 Hanja: 釋提壬)
- Goo-eulli (Hangul : 구을리 Hanja: 邱乙利)
- Jiwiri (Hangul : 지위리 Hanja: 智爲利)
References
- ^ For a more detailed account on the source of this misconception, see this blog post "The reality of Hwanguk (환국(桓國)의 진실)": http://orumi.egloos.com/251832 (written in Korean). Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated Korean mythology consists of national legends and folk-tales which come from all over the Korean Peninsula. Budoji (부도지 符都誌 is a narrative literature about the ancient Korean history written by Bak Jesang(박제상 during the period of King Nulji of Silla. Hwandan Gogi (환단고기 桓檀古記 also called Handan Gogi, is a compilation of texts on ancient Korean history